Pontoon shopping at Chicago boat show

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Originally Posted by jakethebt

I stopped by a "new in town" marina this past spring for some parts and looked at the pontoons on the way to the parts dept. I am pretty sure they were bennington brand. I asked the price and the dealer told me how they won the lottery that year and this was the boat that was in the pics for their marketing and books and it was a really good price. The only reason that I mention it is that I figured the factory had some pride in this boat. After looking at it a little more close, it was built like crap. The quality of the welds was scary. It looked like a little kid did then with his eyes closed. None of the pcs of the pontoon even looked like they fit together right. Once I started looking, I was really surprised how bad it really was. I would be surprised if they even used jigs or fixtures for the pontoons. I bet they added 10% drag just due to poor quality.

One thing I would do when you are at the boat show is look at the build quality. Keep in mind these boats are all "low volume production" and there may be a huge difference in quality and construction.

As for the outboards, if you can afford the Honda, you cant hardly go wrong.

Very interesting info on the Bennington as they are touted as high end toons.

[bbymgr]

I'm surprised also. Some friends have one, and I thought it was very well made.

[jason95gt]

Grand Entertainer by Premier or any Premier for that matter. Great quality and customer service.

[mikeg205]

First sign of spring here now... - good luck on them pontoons...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0O0nzkESTI

[cbryan70]

erkoehler sells a few different brands of toons. I would give him a call. He will be at the boatshow as well.

[CC2MC]

Originally Posted by 94PS190

We have a 25 on the pontoon and it as all we ever needed. I have never understood why you would put a 150 on a pontoon? if it was the only boat, maybe. We ski behind the prostar and drink on the pontoon. I can think of anytime we have been in any kind of hurry with the pontoon. 99% of the time it is just in gear. plus, horsepower is expensive. Just my 2.

Well, a 150hp is obviously not for everyone. We tend to entertain quite a bit and with the extra horsepower, you can load the pontoon up with people and tube or ski as an overflow boat, so it is nice to have the extra hp when you want it. You are correct in that HP is very $$. Most of the cost in a $60k pontoon would be in the engine. Granted, a $60k pontoon would probably be running around a 250hp, but I have seen up to a 300hp. To that, I say why? I have a good friend whose dad has one with a 250hp on it and it will certainly go and is faster than my PS205. That is their only boat for now, other than the waverunner, so they do pretty much everything behind it. Also, we are on a very large lake, with over 750 miles of shoreline and when you are 30 mins away from the house with a crying baby, you tend to want to get back a little quicker than a 25 could handle. Granted, we are usually cruising around 10-15mph in the pontoon, but it is nice to have it when you need it.

There is one guy on the lake that has a pontoon with twin engines, one on each pontoon. I haven't seen it up close, so I don;t know which engines it has, but I do know it flies. It probably does 65mph or better, which is a bit ridiculous. High tech Red Neck, I guess.